After a discussion with a friend on the Ventura County Sheriff's SAR team, I went and bought an ACR ResQlink. I thought it would be a good idea to carry it on my trip next week into Arizona, where I'll be riding with my son. We had extensive discussions about the SPOT beacon and the Garmin inReach, both of which require a subscription plan.
Those devices also can give routine position reports via text to family and friends, along with an SOS. I think I've got the routine stuff pretty well covered between a cell phone and Ham radio. This is just for the worst case--just push the button and wait. No subscription required.
It was $250--and hopefully the most expensive radio that I'll never use.
